Chandy conveys protest to AI team

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Wednesday summoned Air India officials located in the State capital to his official residence and registered the State government’s strong protest against the national carrier’s action cancelling flights to the Gulf without notice and the steep hike in air fare.

The meeting took place soon after the morning session of an extended Cabinet session and the entire Cabinet team was present at the meeting.

The Chief Minister made some candid references to the manner in which Air India treated the Gulf passengers. Mr. Chandy also handed over a letter to the Air India (AI) Station Manager, conveying to the AI’s Chairman the State’s strong protest.

The Air India team headed by Station Manager S.G.S. Jacob explained the carrier’s stand. He said that it was only in the case of the Sharjah flight that the airlines could not convey information about its cancellation on time. The reason was that Air India Express passengers did not have SMS facility for providing information about flights. Moreover, several passengers had not given their phone numbers or that of their travel agent. This made it difficult to convey the message on time, they said.

The Cabinet members felt that there was no justification for cancelling the flights on the Gulf sector, which was a revenue earner for the airlines, to transport Haj pilgrims. The Haj pilgrimage was planned much ahead and the airlines should have made alternative arrangements, Ministers Aryadan Mohammed and K.C. Joseph said.

Mr. Chandy said that cancellation on account of unforeseen circumstances was understandable; the manner in which the cancellation was made and the brusque behaviour of the airline staff were unjustifiable. He also sought to know the rationale in hiking passenger fares.

At one point of time, the officials pointed out that only 40 per cent of the passengers could not be catered to. Chief Secretary K. Jayakumar, however, said that the percentage quoted was only intended to minimise the damage, even while forgetting the psychological damage that had caused. He said that the airline staff could have at least been courteous.

This is for the first time that Air India officials were being summoned by the entire Cabinet team to express the sense of consternation that the people felt about Air India’s actions.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/chandy-conveys-protest-to-ai-team/article3940942.ece